The zombies are back! After being expelled from the school, the zombies have returned to take over the streets thanks to the use of the sewer system and are destroying the peace of the citizens as they know it. This time, they find themselves relying on the talents of the upperclassmen to handle the horde. Perhaps a little bit older and a little bit wiser than their previous counterparts, these Teenz are ready to take the fight to the streets while searching for the ingredients for an antidote so gather your fellow zombie-wranglers and join the fray in Le Scorpion Masque‘s Zombie Teenz Evolution.

Also returning to the scene for this 2020 game release is designer Annick Lobet and artist NIKAO. In addition to the release of another legacy game, Pirate Legends, Lobet’s recent projects include the upcoming dexterity game Canopea. Mia London and the Case of the 625 Scoundrels, the memory-centric crime-solving children’s game, features some of NIKAO’s more recent illustrations. Joining the team is artist Rémy Tornior. Tornior has also illustrated such games as Karibou Camp, A Fistful of Daisies, and, our personal favorite of this list: Sticky Cthulhu.

Setup will start with placing each of the player’s characters in the centralized school space of the board. One of the zombie hordes is chosen by the players and placed on the sewer entrance of its matching color and the others go next to the board to form a reserve. Players will then need to shuffle the event cards before placing them, the overrun boards, and the dice next to the board as well. The envelopes that give the game its “evolution” mechanic should remain unopened and in the box until players unlock them as guided by their advancements on the various progression tracks. This may change as more content is unlocked from the envelopes, but in early games, and as far as we have seen thus far in our campaign, this is how it is done.

Gameplay, like the students themselves, has advanced a bit from the previous iteration of the Evolution games. Gone are the days of quickly moving across the board and eliminating the zombie threat. The board for Zombie Teenz Evolution has more spaces in between locations and will thus require more effort and coordination to push back the zombie incursion. During their turn, a player will be allowed to take two actions and may repeat the same action if they so choose. Before doing this, though, they must roll the dice and either place/move the zombie matching the rolled color or draw a card from the event deck if a “?” is rolled. They may then decide to move to an adjacent space, transfer a crate to/from an adjacent ally, or attack a zombie in the same space as them. If a zombie manages to make it into a building, then the building is overrun and the zombies will be one step closer to their victory. They will build a trampoline at the location and if ever a zombie would move from or land in a space with a trampoline they bounce from there to the next building in clockwise order. This means that once they get started they can very quickly take out the entire town if the protagonists are not quick to achieve their goal. So how does a group of teens stop the zombie agenda, you ask? Well, at some point they figured out that if a zombie eats a concoction of donuts, ketchup, popcorn, and a bit of medicine they will actually revert to their human form. If they can collect some of each ingredient from around town and return each to the school they will achieve victory and win the game!

The Kidz, too, have returned in this standalone sequel to Zombie Kidz Evolution thanks to some crossover rules. Additionally, players can take the Teenz powers and play with them in Zombie Kidz Evolution or combine elements from both games into one for a unique challenge due to an online campaign that is also available. These rules are free to download and enjoy should you own or want to own both games.

Zombie Teenz Evolution is both a meatier game in difficulty and size when compared to its predecessor, but that shouldn’t be something to deter you away from the game itself – especially if you’ve already played Zombie Kidz Evolution! It stands on its own as the next in line for the series; bringing both familiarity and new mechanics to the franchise. Though we began our zombie-fighting journey with Zombie Kidz Evolution, we feel that Zombie Teenz Evolution could be just as great of an entry point. Players will notice that the game will teeter between favoring the zombies and the players as new content continues to be revealed. In our experience, each new envelope seemed to tip the scales to one side or the other, making each reveal an exciting addition. After several games and continuing to earn victories and achievements, we are eager to press further into the story and see what awaits us next! The game continues to grow in depth and complexity the more it is played. Sessions are relatively short and players will quickly find themselves presented with a far more advanced game than they initially set out to play. Zombie Teenz Evolution is a terrific game that will draw you back again and again to find out what happens next and we love that it keeps the challenges fresh and involved as it progresses. It truly brings so much more than you expect from its small box size and price point that we cannot help but recommend you get yourself a copy and give it a try!

All photos of Le Scorpion Masque products were taken and edited by Krista.